Vader’s reveal to Luke about being the kid’s father is an all-time truth bomb, and is made better when compared to Luke’s visions of the man behind the mask when training with Yoda.
Yet there is so much greatness to Empire on a surface level but also digging deeper. It might rank highly just due to AT-ATs, the Imperial Walkers that are arguably the coolest things that have ever stomped across a movie screen. We don’t need to know much about their history or where they come from to quickly fall in love with all these players as they begin a long journey that is still going. Even Vader feeling there’s something up when Luke makes his trench run on the Death Star. And Leia putting on a brave face as she faces Vader and the destruction of her planet. C-3PO constantly complaining to R2-D2 and Artoo taking it like a champ. Han cynically explaining that hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster, though it seems like he’s trying to convince himself of this a bit. Old “Ben” Kenobi explaining to Luke that Darth Vader “murdered” his father Anakin, a scene that has much more richness revisiting it later. Luke is a whiny farmboy who has big dreams when he looks out over the two-sun horizon of Tatooine and he knows his destiny lies beyond. Whether Han shot first or not, the original remains the real deal mostly because of all the great character moments. View Gallery: 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker': Relive the original trilogy 2.
Last Jedi is unsurprisingly dedicated to “our princess” Carrie Fisher, and her final role speaks volumes to the legacy of the core characters played by Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, yet also points out the need for fresh icons to take the franchise to new heights. Made-up words.” The galaxy is no longer a hotbed of chosen ones, a place where a nobody, a lowly First Order janitor or a Resistance mechanic, can save the universe - a switch from the days of Anakin and Luke. Johnson is also winningly subversive, having Luke call out his own past and challenging the foundation that Lucas put in place 40 years ago - one character even says, “Good guys, bad guys. Plus, the next-generation heroes of the Resistance take a great leap in being a real rebellion like we saw in the original trilogy. Fans have plenty to unpack in a lengthy runtime and Last Jedi, like other franchise vehicles, demands repeat viewings, but Luke Skywalker is the coolest he’s been since The Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)įor those who love spectacular space battles, the cute audacity of porgs and bad guys with British accents snarling, “Rebel scum,” there’s a lot to love in writer/director Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII.
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This, not Rogue One, should be the template for future spinoffs. Han and Chewie ( Joonas Suotamo) are awesome together, Han and Lando (Donald Glover) aren't bad either, it boasts a bunch of new creatures and crooks, and the film even ties into Star Wars past in surprising fashion. Mostly free of lightsabers, Jedi and Rebels, Solo is a Star Wars take on an Indiana Jones jam, and the first movie to tackle the underworld through its most famous anti-hero. This Han ( Alden Ehrenreich) is an idealistic sort willing to go to extreme and illegal lengths to see his girlfriend (Emilia Clarke) again. until you actually see a young Han Solo movie. While the fan service goes too far - for example, the old-school CGI character who is just as distracting as Jar Jar - Rogue One does introduce some neato supporting aliens like Admiral Raddus, a military mashup of Patton, Churchill and a lobster.Ī young Han Solo movie doesn't sound like a great idea. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)įor its maiden standalone voyage, Star Wars brass blended the old - the Rebel Alliance freaking out about the construction of the Empire’s mighty Death Star - with something new: In this case, a war movie digging into the battlefields on land and in space with insurgents rising up against “the Man.” The results are a mixed bag: Ex-con Jyn Erso ( Felicity Jones) heads up the squad of armed misfits to steal the Death Star plans, though a snarky droid ends up being the best character in the bunch (for the record, K-2SO is way cooler than C-3PO) the Empire is full of bickering bureaucrats, which is fun to watch though bad for getting the Death Star done in a timely manner and Darth Vader power walks into scenes that both undermine his icon status yet also cement it. View Gallery: Chewbacca hits the Cannes red carpet for 'Solo' 7.